Monthly Archives: April 2008

I’m not actually a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto games, though like a lot of gamers I find the relatively open structure of the gameplay in the series compelling. It’s a personal thing, not something that I’m inclined … Continue reading →

I’m trying to think of sensible, fair-minded things to say about this story (via Margaret Soltan) about a Dartmouth instructor who plans to sue her students for making discriminatory remarks about her pedagogy, but I’m coming up empty. (Here’s the … Continue reading →

[cross -posted at Cliopatria] I tell my students that all good research projects and analytical writing have to provide an answer to the question, â€œSo what?â€, a justification for the project or the essay. One student asked me if history … Continue reading →

I had an interesting conversation with a student about this week where we were supposed to be talking about his work and I ended up hogging the conversation. He was asking me some interesting questions, though, about how I think … Continue reading →

Maybe because it’s April, I’m in one of my periodic bouts of skepticism about blogging. I spoke earlier this semester to a class about my practice as an online writer, and the occasion made me realize that I’m really starting … Continue reading →

I am dying to know how the candidates feel about Sacco and Vanzetti, the Teapot Dome scandal, and Boss Tweed. If the Weather Underground is important enough to come up at a debate, surely those are too. Alternatively, I’d settle … Continue reading →

For everyone else, April is the month where nature springs back to life, love is in the air, pleasant days and good feelings. I feel like in the academic calendar, April is the equivalent of winter. The year is dying, … Continue reading →

In her op-ed on Robert Mugabe, Heidi Holland portrays him partially as a wayward child of Western civilization who has his nose pressed against the glass, hoping to be invited back in from the cold from whence his “heathen granny” … Continue reading →

I had two separate reactions to Heidi Holland’s op-ed about Robert Mugabe, so I’ll blog about it twice. Holland argues that Western nations should make peace with Robert Mugabe, partly on the grounds that a punitive approach has accomplished nothing … Continue reading →